Gluten Free

Fig trees love warmer climates. However, for the adventurous northern gardener, the best way to grow figs is in a container that can be placed outdoors in warm weather and then brought indoors to winter. The best variety of fig tree for a container is the Petite Negri fig. It's a small- to medium-sized black fruit with sweet, red flesh. If you have great weather, Mission figs are superb. The natural sweetness of figs goes well with pork tenderloin in this dish. If you like, use sturdy fresh rosemary branches (as from the Tuscan variety) for the skewers.

Beef "tea?" Is that like beef broth? Well, kind of. It's a dish that goes back in time to the days when the British were trying to find the essence of what gave beef its nutritional value. Since this was before vitamins and protein were known, they weren't sure what they were looking for. Along the way, somebody noticed that this very mild liquid was soothing and comforting. Give it a try when you're feeling under the weather, but don't go looking for a scientific reason for its effectiveness. For steeping the "tea," you will need a 1-quart wide-mouth glass jar or plastic container with a tight-fitting lid.

Strong Belwas will agree that this Ghiscari specialty is of such taste that it is nearly worth dying for. Any dish that so perfectly balances honey sweetness with the savory fire of Free City spices is nothing short of tantalizing, and the preparation of such a meal is an accomplishment to take pride in. People who try this dish shouldn't be surprised to find out that one bite isn't enough! (A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 52—Daenerys)

Whether they're braving the Kingsroad during war, fighting beyond the Wall, or foraging in the last days before the long winter, acorn paste can satisfy travelers' hunger. Even children have no problem preparing this food in a moment of need. This spread goes nicely on biscuits and bread—a luxury in the wild. (A Clash of Kings, Chapter 19—Arya)

This classic French dish is originally made without cheese. It is the starch from the potatoes, and the cream and milk, which give the dish its cheesy taste while the leek and garlic gently infuse their flavors into the potatoes. Of course if you prefer you can add some grated gruyère to the top along with the cream.

I've eaten split pea and ham soup for as long as I can remember. On chilly days when my dad was being stingy with the heat, it especially hit the spot. But this concept is just as good in the springtime, when sugary fresh peas show up at the greenmarket. Although I must admit that I rarely feel like shelling peas at home after a long day in the kitchen, and I love frozen peas, which are consistently fine, so that's what I call for here. The finished dish is bright green and sweet, with little chunks of ham, carrots, and cool white blobs of crème fraîche floating on its surface.

This is my Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon salad. The two main ingredients—carrot and avocado—might not seem compatible or connected, but your first bite will convince you otherwise. The carrots are roasted with cumin and paired with orange, both classic pairings for the vegetable. The citrus goes great with cilantro, and both are a fine match for avocado. Before you know it, you have this fresh, vibrant salad. I love the carrots roasted to the same creamy softness of avocado. The contrast comes not from the texture but from the fact that one's warm from the oven and the other's cool from the fridge.
Sorry if I got your hopes up, but despite the salad's nickname, there's no bacon.

this is currently my favorite salsa! The unexpected addition of apples makes for a great texture and adds to the sweetness of roasted tomatillos. I also like to add some diced fresh apple right at the end, for freshness and crunch. Take a flour quesadilla, add some sliced avocados, and top with this salsa. Perfection.

These ribs get the benefit of a lemon pepper accent mixed with complementary seasonings and finished with an apple juice baste. We think they're best hot off the grill without any other seasonings. If you must, serve them with barbecue sauce on the side.

Joellyn Sullivan is co-proprietor of the famous Silky O'Sullivan's on Beale Street in Memphis, where pizza, oysters, barbecue sandwiches, Cajun sandwiches, po' boys, barbecue ribs, and other foods are consumed indoors and outdoors to the tunes of guest musicians in a yearlong St. Patrick's Day scene. Her husband and co-proprietor, Silky, is an international barbecue rock star. They are longtime friends and Barbecue Royalty. Joellyn was kind enough to share this recipe with us, a variation on the recipe she gave to Chef Paul for leg of lamb at the World Cup Barbecue Championship years ago in Lisdoonvarna, Ireland, where she took home the blue ribbon for lamb in 1989.

This is a salsa, but whenever I make it I just end up eating it by the spoonful like a salad. The combination of the tart, crisp pomegranate, creamy cheese, and crunchy pine nuts makes a wonderful topping for grilled fish or even a carne asada taco. Pine nuts can be expensive because of the labor-intensive work of extracting them from the pine cones, plus they have a high fat content, which makes them turn rancid quickly. So buy a small quantity and store them in the fridge for no longer than three months.

There are two secrets to outstanding guacamole: chop the avocados instead of mashing them, and include a smoke-flavored chile. The richest and most flavorful avocados are the rough-skinned Hass variety. Because avocados turn dark when exposed to air, store guacamole in a bowl with plastic wrap pressed directly onto the surface. Make it within hours of serving.

If you make this whole recipe, you will have enough to feed a crowd, plus you will have half of a pineapple and perhaps half of a papaya left over. The salsa is especially good atop grilled chicken or fish.

The names of many of the characters in The Hunger Games showcase the qualities that those characters possess. Katniss, who stays strong in any situation, is named after the Katniss (arrowhead) plant, an incredibly adaptable plant that can survive in temperatures as low as 0°F. (The Hunger Games, Chapter 4)

A close relative of Brunswick Stew, Burgoo was traditionally made with small, wild game such as squirrel or rabbit. This recipe adapted from B. Smith makes about 1 gallon, an amount that can easily be made on the stovetop in an 8-quart Dutch oven or soup pot. There are two parts to the recipe: first, making the flavorful meat broth, and then cooking the meat and vegetables together. Burgoo freezes well and tastes even better if it's refrigerated a few days before serving. Lawrenceburg is home to the Anderson County Burgoo Festival, held every September.

For many years Tandy Ellis, the Kentucky wit and raconteur, ran a daily column in the Louisville Courier-Journal. It was considered quite an honor to be invited to his sanctum (Rambeau Flats) at his home in Ghent, Kentucky. Once, when I published a recipe for burgoo which called for cabbage, he took exception and sent me his own version of this distinctive Kentucky dish. He wrote: "I have been asked many times for my recipe for burgoo, especially for home use. I learned to make burgoo from Gus Jaubert of Lexington, and from several of the other old-time makers of Kentucky burgoo. I trailed with Gus Jaubert on one occasion when he went to Ohio and served 10,000 people. He had one kettle that held 600 gallons. I have made burgoo for several meetings. My recipe to serve at the home for about 8 people* follows":

"There is no point in cooking country ham and burgoo to serve just six," Charles Patteson advises the Derby Day host in Charles Patteson's Kentucky Cooking (1988). "Start with the mandatory mint juleps," he continues. "Burgoo, which is midway between a hearty soup and a stew, succeeds the juleps in the guests' cups as a first course." I hadn't known that. Nor had I known that it's traditional for burgoo to be scooped into silver mint julep cups at the annual Kentucky Colonels' Barbecue the day after the Derby. In Kentucky's Best (1998), Linda Allison-Lewis writes that burgoo must "simmer for twenty-four hours prior to being served," then confides that burgoo chefs used to listen for the splatter of the "mysterious ingredient"—the ingredient that fused all flavors—being added "sometime in the dark of night." Legend has it that that ingredient was a black snake that fell out of a tree into the first batch of burgoo. Historians doubt that but most do agree that burgoo was created during the Civil War by Gus Jaubert, a French chef serving Confederate general John Hunt Morgan. At war's end, Jaubert settled in Lexington, Kentucky, began making burgoo on a massive scale, and soon gained fame as "the burgoo king." On his death, according to Ronni Lundi, author of Shuck Beans, Stack Cakes, and Honest Fried Chicken (1991), Lexington cook J. T. Looney "inherited both Jaubert's pot and his title." While traveling about the Bluegrass State some years ago to research my Grass Roots Cookbook, I ate burgoo every chance I got. I also learned more about this Kentucky classic. Jaubert's original recipe apparently contained blackbirds. Unable to say "blackbird stew" not only because French was his first language but also because he had a hairlip, Jaubert pronounced it "burgoo." Or so I was told. Elsewhere I learned that those early burgoos contained mostly squirrels plus whatever vegetables came to hand. I daresay that there are hundreds of different recipes for Kentucky burgoo today. This downsized version of the burgoo served for years at the Pete Light Springs Restaurant in Cadiz, Kentucky, was given to me by Lois Watkins, whom I profiled in my book. "This burgoo is the best in the world," she said as she handed me the scribbled recipe. I won't quarrel with that.